


Payback's a Bitch

by OlrichRakdos



Category: RWBY
Genre: Big fight scene, Maybe Yang/Mercury depending on how it pans out, Other, post-season 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-07-24 18:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7519250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlrichRakdos/pseuds/OlrichRakdos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yang Xiao Long's self-imposed exile has ended. Having acquired new cybernetic arms, courtesy of General Ironwood, the blonde has returned to active duty as a Huntress.<br/>Her first mission? Find and defeat the fugitive Mercury Black.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Find the Path

The evening sky of Mistral was quite colourful, an intense orange streaking across the few clouds overhead while the city underneath bustled and started to light up in preparation for the night. Tall structures blazed in all manner of colours, the street level homes hidden by a display of vibrance. Above it all, Haven Academy stood in the centre, a testament of the times.

Atop a small hill overlooking the magnificent city, blonde hair billowed in the gentle breeze as Yang Xiao Long gazed over the landscape, the sleek yellow form of her motorbike Bumblebee rumbling beneath her. With a sigh, she flipped open her scroll and glanced down at the blinking image of one of the two people who had managed to ruin her life, the gray hair and trademark smirk of Mercury Black staring her back in the face.

Flicking the scroll closed, Yang placed her arms into Bumblebee's customised handlebars and gunned it over the crest, blazing a golden trail down the hill. _Last known location was Mistral. Gonna find that asshole and break both his legs this time,_ she thought over the high-pitched roar.

The speedometer climbed higher and higher as she rapidly approached Mistral's main entrance highway. _60 mph... 70... 80... Never really tested how fast Bumblebee can go._ The toll gate that she saw ahead forced her to hit the brakes and slow down, eventually coming to rest right by a toll booth.

"Evening, ma'am. It's twenty lien to pass through here." The gentleman sitting in the booth was clearly bored out of his skull. Yang decided to go the intimidation route, leaning upright and glaring daggers at him with a flash of her Huntress license. "Official business. I'm hunting down a fugitive."

She saw the man scowl, pulling a portable scanner and waving it over to check the authenticity. "Ma'am, if you think that impersonating a huntress is fu-" His sentence was cut short by a confirmation beep, eyes widening in surprise. "I-I-I mean, uh, free of charge, miss Long, ma'am. Have a good evening." Quickly jabbing a button more times than necessary, the booth arm clicked up in front of her, open highway stretching as far as she could see with tendrils of asphalt spearing off into sections of the city.

"You too." Leaning back into the bike, Yang shot off into the city, a squeal of tires covering the second half of her sentence. "Asshole."

Checking that her arms were covered by her jacket and gloves, she peeled off on one of the many exits, slowing to a reasonable 20 along one of the outskirt roads. _Don't want to speed by a potential information hub._

Pulling into a small lot, she parked and hopped off Bumblebee, the handlebars pulled out from the arm slots. She had designed the system herself, and her pride and joy would only start if she grabbed it. Of course, there was the threat of someone cutting off both arms and stealing her ride, but she wasn't too worried about that. _Besides, it's not like some idiot's going to try and mug me for the keys to-_

"Excuse me, ma'am, you got a light?" _And there's the idiot. This place is jinxed, I swear._ Turning about, she pulled a small lighter from her jacket with a smile bright enough to shine through a Grimm, extending it towards the green-haired and ragged teenager. "Sure. Always glad to help out."

As he took the lighter, he grabbed Yang's left arm and pulled her close, a knife at her throat. "And everything else, bitch. _Especially_ the keys to your neat bike."

"Well, you're holding one of them now." Yang winked as he paused to look at her sleeve, then blindsided him with a right hook that sent him sprawling onto the pavement with a bruise on his jaw. Flicking her arms to the sides, Ember Celica flowed over her hands and cocked themselves. "Now, you wanna try that again, punk? Because I can, and will, break your ass over one knee."

Spitting to the side, the teen scowled. "How about you hand everything over to me and my boys, and we won't kill you when we leave you like a broken toy by a trash can?" It became clear why no one parked where Yang had when seven other teens stepped out from every shadow cast by the streetlamps.

As the blonde brought her fists up in her usual boxer's stance, she grinned. "Well, tonight's off to a good start, at least."

Before any of them could react, Yang surged forward, planting a boot into the green-haired leader's chest and launching the poor sod across the tarmac, into the wall on the far side with a sickening crunch. "Get to vent some anger on you assholes instead of a bouncer!"

Five of the seven looked among each other worriedly, but the other two drew bats out and ran for her with a yell. "Fuck you, whore!"

Yang chuckled as she turned about, raising an arm and watching one of the bats crack in half. "You'd enjoy it more than I would!" A flick of the arm, faster than most humans could trace, gave the broken bat's owner a wrist to the side of his chin, the crack audible to the others as he went skidding across the lot, road rash trailing behind him in a streak of blood.

The other one wasn't so lucky, catching a gut punch before he could swing, followed by a fist into his cheek, then his head grabbed and face kneed, making him stumble back and leaving him wide open for Yang's 'below the belt' swing to connect. Collapsing in a squealing heap before the blonde, she glanced back at the group. "Two guys in roughly three seconds. You think the rest of you stand a chance?"

Everyone else scattered, running into the night.

With a sigh, the brawler walked about, gathering the three left behind by her bike. "Alright, assholes. I'd love to beat you senseless for what you tried, but if you can help me, I'll let you go with a pat on the head and a pocket of lien. Got it?"

Three heads nodded, and Yang smiled, bringing up the photo of Mercury. "Good. Now, I've heard rumours about a Mercury Black being around here. You wouldn't know anything about him, would you?"

Each of them shared a glance, before the green hair spoke up. "We've, uh, heard where he _might_ be, but nothing definitive. He hangs near Amnesia, on the southeast side. It's neutral ground, though. Lotta gangs there, so if you piss off one person, you piss off everyone."

Yang smirked, finally letting the Huntress badge on her belt glint in the streetlight. "Oh, trust me. I destroyed a bar once, I can do it again."

All three of them paled. "Uh, o-o-of course, ma'am. We'll just, ah, be on our way, then? So sorry for getting off on the, er, wrong foot, so to speak."

Her smirk grew into a grin as she casually tossed the green haired gent a sizeable leather pouch filled with lien. "Now, how about you leave this small parking lot alone in future? I'm sure you don't want me to _visit you guys again_ , right?"

"This place is yours, ma'am!" Three trashy thugs scrambled around each other to get as far away as possible as fast as possible, nursing the wounds and divvying up the lien like a group of scavengers. Seeing such antagonism between humans made Yang sick.

Spitting onto the pavement, the blonde hopped back onto her bike, started it up and pulled back out onto the street, sights set on the mythical club of Amnesia.


	2. Storm the Castle

With a scream of burning rubber, the yellow blur of both Yang and Bumblebee skidded into the parking lot beside Club Amnesia, drowning out the thumping music originating from inside the collection of concrete.

Dismounting her pride and joy, Yang tested the handlebars, double checking the locking mechanism. _Lock's staying tight, at least._ The briefest smirk flashed across her face. _Heheh, staying tight._

Turning about on her heel, she came face to face with a man in a full three-piece suit, a yellow tie peeking out from his jacket as he spoke. "Good evening, ma'am. I'm obligated to inform you that motorbikes aren't the safest vehicle in here. However, for a low price of twenty lien per night, we can keep it in a special storage for you."

"Thanks, but I doubt even Haven's finest could break Bumblebee, let alone some punk on the street." Sidestepping around the gentleman, Yang continued to stride for the club entrance.

Ignoring the indignant exclamations behind her, the blonde strode up the street, right into the face of the gruff bouncer, dressed in a blinding white suit and the reoccurring yellow tie. "Ma'am, get back in line."

Yang folded her arms, discreetly flashing her Huntress badge. "I'd rather not. See, I'm hunting someone, and you're in. My. Way."

His eyes widened, and he stepped aside, pulling the red velvet cordon to one side. "O-o-of course, ma'am. If you need a hand-"

She cut him off with a raised finger, making sure to fill her voice with malice. "If I need a hand, then I'll ask _inside_."

Striding through the doors, Yang immediately felt a bit out of place. Every person was wearing suits and dresses that Weiss would find acceptable in social areas, and likely cost as much as they looked. Her own outfit - a heavy leather jacket over her usual tube top, short shorts and neat boots - marked her as an aberration in a sea of prestige.

With a snort, the blonde surged through to the bar, minimally weaving through the crowd and giving those who passed dirty looks a slight shove.

It took a second for the bartender to get to her, slightly out of breath and a clear fluster in her cheeks. Yang smirked, holding up a hand. "Catch your breath, I can wait."

The lady behind the counter nodded gratefully, a couple of heavy gulps of air filling her lungs before finally being able to speak. "Apologies about that, ma'am, been run ragged tonight. What can I do for you?"

"I'm hunting this guy. Seen him around lately?" Yang slid her scroll over, the photo of Mercury - or 'Smirk-ury' by her own nicknaming - shining from the blue screen. "He's been causing trouble for a while."

The bartender shot a quick glance around, before leaning over. "You're really looking for the infamous Mercury Black? One of the four behind Vale's fall?"

Yang's face hardened into a frown. "I am. So what? You gonna show me to him, or do I have to find him myself?"

"Well, the last person who looked for him ended up hanging from Haven Academy's gates as a warning." The woman swallowed. "He's in room 4B tonight, but he often switches rooms. Plus, he's dangerous."

A snort erupted from the blonde as she turned about, striding off through the crowd. "Oh, I know _far_ too well what he can do."

\-------

It had taken for-fucking-ever, but finally, he had cleaned the blood off his feet. The bouncer really had nerve to come in to his room and piss him off, and he repaid the dickery in kind. Of course, the sprays of blood had been an unfortunate side effect of his retribution, but hell if he cared. Blood could be washed off. Being a little bitch, however, could not.

 _Ah, whatever. He's dead, he can rot,_ Mercury Black thought to himself as he grabbed his trusty screwdriver from his belt. Flopping into a nearby seat, he propped the now-clean synthetic foot onto the desk beside it and began fixing his leg. It had taken a beating in that fight, and every good criminal knew that finely-working tools were the best friend a hitman could have.

His thoughts were rudely interrupted by a knock on the door, and he paused, loading a round into his greaves. "Who is it?"

"Special room service~" A sultry, yet somewhat familiar voice called from the other side. "Courtesy of a mister Taiyang."

Mercury stood and strode to the door, bringing a fist back in preparation. If they burst through the door, he'd be ready. "Taiyang, huh? What's his last name?"

The same voice gave a light chuckle, and Mercury could have sworn he heard it before. "Xiao Long."

His eyes widened in the second it took for Mercury to recall and recognise the name, before the door exploded in a shower of wood splinters, a familiar, radiant, golden-maned woman standing in front of him with burning yellow gauntlets. "Knock knock, mother _fucker!"_


	3. Light the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter brought to you by "I'm the One", composed and performed by the glorious Jeff and Casey Lee Williams.

In all honesty, Yang would admit that the explosion had been a little over the top, but it worked extremely well, giving her enough time to punch the smug, grey-haired punk across the room. "Guess who, dickhole!"

Spinning in the air, her opponent landed on top of a desk by the large window, the wood splintering under his metal feet. "I gotta say, blondie, you're tenacious."

"And you're an asshole!" Yang surged forwards as Ember Celica barked, tearing chunks out of the scenery with each loud bang.

She wasn't surprised when he leaped off the ruined frame, running around the edge of the room towards her. In fact, she expected him to fight like he did against Yatsuhashi and her at the festival. _Feels like that was so long ago,_ she thought, slamming a gauntlet into his cybernetic boot as it swung for her head.

A metallic clang echoed through the room, sparks flying between their weapons as the two immediately lunged at each other, Yang's gauntlets and Mercury's greaves trading blows and blasts in the center of the room.

He chuckled darkly, a roundhouse kick clashing with both gauntlets. "Bold, to have come here. Unfortunately, you're not leaving alive."

Yang slid her left arm down his leg, catching him in the gut with a hard elbow and causing him to stumble back. "Then you don't know what I can do, Mercury." Bringing her fists back up into her usual stance, she winked at him.

Mercury straightened up, a ghost of a frown draped across his face. "I have a good idea. But that elbow was too hard to be you."

"Oh, it's _all_ me, that's for sure." With a growl, the golden mane closed the gap between them, Ember Celica roaring with her swing.

He wasn't quite prepared for the speed at which she came at him, barely dodging out of the way of the blast with a wince. Pressing her advantage, Yang brought her right arm around for a haymaker, not expecting him to actually get hit by-

The arm clocked Mercury flat in his face, a familiar silver fractal rippling over his body as he stumbled backwards into a chair, eyes wide. "Whoa, wait, blondie-"

She leaped at him, toppling the chair with her weight. "No! You're coming with me, Black! You're answering for your crimes!"

Then she paused. She shouldn't have been able to knock the chair over with his weight in it.

Rolling to the side, she narrowly avoided a revolver shot and a wind blast, the two attacks destroying the chair. Looking up from her crouch, she saw Mercury standing there, a smirk on his face as his green-haired, chocolate skinned accomplice stepped out from the closet. "As I said, blondie, you're not leaving alive."

Rising back to her full height, Yang grinned savagely, ready to pounce on a moment's notice. "If it isn't short, dark and bitchy! I had an idea that Merc wasn't capable of a double semblance. But now, it seems I'll be getting two for the price of one!"

"Good luck with tha-" was as far as Emerald Sustrai got before Yang slammed a fist into her gut. The green-haired woman hadn't expected the attack, and as a result, she doubled over, winded.

With a roar of anger, Mercury spun on his metal heel, bringing the other around at an extremely dangerous speed and a collision course for the blonde's head-

And almost instantly stopped as Yang brought her elbow up to block.

His eyes widening was the best reaction she had ever gotten. "What? That should've broken your arm!"

Ember Celica barked as Yang's arm shoved his leg away, before she swung the other fist into his chest. A second crack resonated from her bracers, and Mercury flipped head-over-heels into the opposite wall.

Emerald straightened up as she recovered, but didn't expect Yang to throw her jacket into her face, silver and gold arms gleaming in the apartment's light under her predatory grin. "Normally, it would. But metal against metal is quite resilient."

Both criminals were dumbfounded for the briefest of seconds, allowing the blonde to get behind Emerald and pull her into a Full Nelson (while thanking whoever made it under her breath) as an obstacle between her and Mercury. "So, wanna rethink your strategy?" She grinned at the now-sneering enforcer.

He surged forwards in a curve, trying to get around, but no matter how fast he went, Yang saw his end goal, twisting and pulling the thief around like a human ragdoll. "Keep thinking, asshole! Gives me more time to screw you over in the end!"

Mercury fired one of his greaves and flipped over the duo, apparently heedless of the hole that he left in the room's terrain. "Fuck you, you blonde bitch!" Swinging the other boot in a blind back-kick, he chuckled as Yang ducked, letting go of Emerald and letting him slam the heel into his partner's head to knock her out cold.

Then he swore as Yang pulled an uppercut, tearing off his leg at the knee with a blast from Ember Celica.

Grabbing the stump, she grinned maniacally as he turned about, his eyes actually showing a hint of fear. "So, Merc, what was it you said about me not leaving alive?"

"How? How did you bypass her aura?"

"Simple." Yang's shoulders popped open, revealing a void-like crystal glowing with an ethereal purple light. "I overclocked it with these." And with that statement, she swung with his stump, clocking him in the face and causing him to flop onto the floor.

Pausing for a second to let the adrenaline fade from her, she slumped to her knees, hawking a globule of purple snot and blood into the carpet as she resealed the volatile Dust compartment. "I am not having this unrefined shit in them ever again."


End file.
